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Beyond the City

Published: March 11, 2012

The impact of Eva and Juan Per?xtended far beyond the capital city, and was particularly strong in the Province of Buenos Aires, where Eva grew up. If you have soaked up all the Evita you can in the city, there's plenty more a short drive or train ride away.

12. QUINTA SAN VICENTE MUSEO DE 17 DE OCTUBRE AND JUAN PER?AUSOLEUM This country home of Juan and Eva Per?as built in 1947 in the well-to-do San Vicente suburbs, about an hour southwest from Buenos Aires. The interior dates to a renovation done in the 1970s, when Per?eturned to power after being in exile for 18 years throughout Latin America and Spain. The museum contains his car collection and a car from the presidential train, as well as statues from a monument he planned to erect in Evita's honor on Avenida Libertador before the coup. The museum garden is the now the final resting place for Per?whose body was moved here from Buenos Aires's Chacarita cemetery in 2006. A companion tomb was built for Evita, but her family will not allow her body to move here, saying it has been on too many journeys since her death.

13. CIUDAD EVITA This homage to Evita is visible only by airplane (and Google Maps). The original street grid for this working-class neighborhood, about 13 miles southwest of downtown Buenos Aires, was designed to look like Evita in profile so that her face would be the first thing visitors flying in to the capital would see.

Intersection of Highway 4 and Highway Ricchieri, near Ezeiza Airport.

14. REP?LICA DE LOS NI?S; LA PLATA Built by Juan and Evita in 1951, this children's amusement park, with a central fairy castle and munchkin-size buildings was said to be the inspiration for Disneyland in California. Just 45 minutes from Buenos Aires, La Plata is also home to the church where Juan and Evita had a secret Catholic wedding in December 1945.

Camino General Belgrano and Highway 501, Gonnet, outside of La Plata; (54) 221-484-1409; www.republica.laplata.gov.ar. 15. LOS TOLDOS On May 7, 1919, Eva Duarte was born in this town, about 190 miles west of Buenos Aires. Her first childhood home is now a tiny museum. The building where the birth took place -- on La Union ranch, where her mother, Juana Ibarguren, worked -- was demolished by the owner so it would not become a shrine. Eva's father, Juan Duarte, was a wealthy rancher married to another woman; he is buried about 50 miles east, in Chivilcoy.

16. JUN? In the film version of ''Evita,'' this town, 156 miles west of Buenos Aires, is full of gauchos, dirt roads and wandering chickens. In reality, the place, with a current population of 80,000, where Eva spent her late childhood and early teenage years, had a thriving cultural scene that helped inspire her acting dreams.

Eva lived in a few houses here, and though none are officially open to the public, owners will show visitors around. The Museo Hist?o de Jun?has a desk and other objects related to the civil marriage of Eva Duarte and Juan Per?which took place here in October 1945. Numerous buses and, twice a day, a train, connect to Buenos Aires, letting you follow Eva's journey to world fame.

17. COLONIA CHAPADMALAL, MAR DEL PLATA Chapadmalal is the site of an enormous Bavarian-style beachside complex built by the Per?for poor and working people in 1952 outside Mar del Plata, the country's largest resort town, about four hours south of Buenos Aires. Though partly in disrepair, the complex contains an Evita museum with some of her clothing and other objects. Through this and other hotels in Mar del Plata, the Per?transformed what was once a wealthy vacation spot into a working- and middle-class one. While anyone can visit the complex and museum, staying overnight involves a lengthy application process. Instead, stay in Mar del Plata at the recently renovated Hotel Presidente Per?